On the positive side, I was about to put a rant in here about how I’m not going to buy a book from an author who doesn’t know that “wide awake” is two words, but I figured I’d better Google it just to be sure. And it turns out that a “wideawake” is in fact a type of hat, what we think of in the U.S. as a “Quaker” hat. So I was wrong, Ms. Giorgis was right, and the lousy book cover blog has expanded my vocabulary yet again.
I don’t think so. Admittedly, I’m no expert on what does or does not make a hat a wideawake, but one factor seems to be the sides of the brim are tilted up rather than flat like this hat.
But like I said, it’s just my best guess based on Google images and the Wikipedia. We will need an expert on haberdashery and/or millinery to tell us for certain.
The definition of a wideawake is that it has a low crown and a wide brim with a slight turn-up on the sides. Like the Quaker Oats man wears, or like this picture. Not the one on the cover, which looks more like a Stetson.
(Apparently the name comes from an old joke that it’s a hat that has no nap.)
Soooo…..our scenario here is that either a) the author knew that there was such a thing as a wideawake hat, and decided to use that for her title, but b) didn’t given enough of a s**t to bother to find out what it was and use it on her cover?
Or, c), she’d heard the term somewhere in time, and doesn’t know how wide awake is properly spelt/punctuated?
Honest to crap, what’s the best alternative here? (P.S.: this is apparently set in NZ, and I have no idea if the Quaker Oats hat style fad caught on there in the 1800’s.
Robbie
3 years ago
I knew there was such a thing as a wideawake hat. It still doesn’t give much hint of what’s inside the book.
Mandy
3 years ago
So, had you read the book, you would find that the wideawake hat was the term used in the ‘wanted’ poster of one of the main characters. Not fiction – the poster is a documented piece of New Zealand history. All known drawings of James Mackenzie, who is not a fictional character, show him wearing a hat very similar to the hat on the cover – hence the author’s use of that design. Whether or not that is the commonly used definition of a wideawake hat is not the issue here, just that is an appropriate image for the story inside based on good historical research.
So, you think it’s reasonable that someone should have to read the book to understand the cover? Sorry, but that’s bass-ackwards; the cover serves the book, not the other way around.
I sorta get the idea of the author vis: the title–there’s some bit of unique language, on wanted posters. But…why, then, would the wrong hat be shown on the cover? I mean, is the prospective buyer meant to look at the cover–which does not feature a wideawake hat–and chortle to themselves, “what a joke! It’s called ‘wideawake hat,’ but it’s not a wideawake hat, so there must be something else happening?” And then leap into buying it? What?
Were I a prospective buyer, and I looked at that, IF I knew what a wideawake hat was in the first place, I’d assume that the author/cover designer didn’t bother to find out what a w/a hat was, and if that were the case, probably didn’t do a very good job inside the covers, either. If I don’t know what a w/a hat is…what’s the point? Is the entire title meant to appeal solely to New Zealanders who already know about James Mackenzie? So…an extremely limited audience?
Isn’t this idea–that the hat is wrongly identified, and the hat on the cover is NOT that hat (so, what, wrongly identified twice????)–an inside joke for an audience of one–the author? Is this one of those “Oh, they’ll get the title and cover, after they’ve bought and read the book” covers?
I am not snarking. I literally do not understand what that is meant to accomplish. Honestly, I thought it was a kids’ book, with that title, something like the HP Sorting Hat.
Maybe this whole w/a hat this is common knowledge in New Zealand, and maybe that will make New Zealanders buy it, but to my eyes and experience, this cover is a major misstep.
On the positive side, I was about to put a rant in here about how I’m not going to buy a book from an author who doesn’t know that “wide awake” is two words, but I figured I’d better Google it just to be sure. And it turns out that a “wideawake” is in fact a type of hat, what we think of in the U.S. as a “Quaker” hat. So I was wrong, Ms. Giorgis was right, and the lousy book cover blog has expanded my vocabulary yet again.
So in other words, NOT the hat that’s actually pictured on the cover.
I don’t think so. Admittedly, I’m no expert on what does or does not make a hat a wideawake, but one factor seems to be the sides of the brim are tilted up rather than flat like this hat.
But like I said, it’s just my best guess based on Google images and the Wikipedia. We will need an expert on haberdashery and/or millinery to tell us for certain.
The definition of a wideawake is that it has a low crown and a wide brim with a slight turn-up on the sides. Like the Quaker Oats man wears, or like this picture. Not the one on the cover, which looks more like a Stetson.
(Apparently the name comes from an old joke that it’s a hat that has no nap.)
Soooo…..our scenario here is that either a) the author knew that there was such a thing as a wideawake hat, and decided to use that for her title, but b) didn’t given enough of a s**t to bother to find out what it was and use it on her cover?
Or, c), she’d heard the term somewhere in time, and doesn’t know how wide awake is properly spelt/punctuated?
Honest to crap, what’s the best alternative here? (P.S.: this is apparently set in NZ, and I have no idea if the Quaker Oats hat style fad caught on there in the 1800’s.
I knew there was such a thing as a wideawake hat. It still doesn’t give much hint of what’s inside the book.
So, had you read the book, you would find that the wideawake hat was the term used in the ‘wanted’ poster of one of the main characters. Not fiction – the poster is a documented piece of New Zealand history. All known drawings of James Mackenzie, who is not a fictional character, show him wearing a hat very similar to the hat on the cover – hence the author’s use of that design. Whether or not that is the commonly used definition of a wideawake hat is not the issue here, just that is an appropriate image for the story inside based on good historical research.
So, you think it’s reasonable that someone should have to read the book to understand the cover? Sorry, but that’s bass-ackwards; the cover serves the book, not the other way around.
I sorta get the idea of the author vis: the title–there’s some bit of unique language, on wanted posters. But…why, then, would the wrong hat be shown on the cover? I mean, is the prospective buyer meant to look at the cover–which does not feature a wideawake hat–and chortle to themselves, “what a joke! It’s called ‘wideawake hat,’ but it’s not a wideawake hat, so there must be something else happening?” And then leap into buying it? What?
Were I a prospective buyer, and I looked at that, IF I knew what a wideawake hat was in the first place, I’d assume that the author/cover designer didn’t bother to find out what a w/a hat was, and if that were the case, probably didn’t do a very good job inside the covers, either. If I don’t know what a w/a hat is…what’s the point? Is the entire title meant to appeal solely to New Zealanders who already know about James Mackenzie? So…an extremely limited audience?
Isn’t this idea–that the hat is wrongly identified, and the hat on the cover is NOT that hat (so, what, wrongly identified twice????)–an inside joke for an audience of one–the author? Is this one of those “Oh, they’ll get the title and cover, after they’ve bought and read the book” covers?
I am not snarking. I literally do not understand what that is meant to accomplish. Honestly, I thought it was a kids’ book, with that title, something like the HP Sorting Hat.
Maybe this whole w/a hat this is common knowledge in New Zealand, and maybe that will make New Zealanders buy it, but to my eyes and experience, this cover is a major misstep.